GWI subsidiary recognized for safety

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) subsidiary, Rail Link, Inc., received the Wyoming Governor's Safety Award for Large Mine Contractors for 2012 and the Wyoming State Mine Inspector Safety Award, both for the third consecutive year.

The Governor's Safety Award is a recognition of an employer's commitment to excellence in workplace safety and health. The Wyoming State Mine Inspector Safety Award was given to Rail Link for having a perfect safety record in 2012.

At the mine sites, Rail Link employees receive empty, mile-long coal trains from the railroad companies, operate them slowly through the mine's loading stations and then hand them back to the railroad companies in a non-stop cycle of as many as 70 trains daily. Rail Link employees loaded approximately 300 million tons of Powder River Basin coal last year, about 30 percent of all coal produced in the U.S. in 2012, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics.

Rail Link's coal-loading operations in the Powder River Basin have not had a reportable injury since September 2011. The operations are part of G&W's Mountain West Region, which also includes the Utah Railway, Arizona & California Railroad, Arizona Eastern Railway, San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad and Ventura County Railroad. The region's employees have operated without an injury in 2013.

"We are pleased that our employees have been honored for the commitment to safety that they bring to the job every day," said J. Bradley Ovitt, senior vice president of GWI's Mountain West Region companies. "Our core purpose is to be the safest and most respected rail service provider in the world and we are grateful that the state of Wyoming continues to recognize our efforts."